Lady Macbeth Ocd Case Study

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1. Lady Macbeth would be diagnosed with OCD. OCD is a disorder that is defined by obsessions and compulsions that consume more than 1 hour per day or cause clinically significant distress or impairment. Obsessions include recurrent and persistent thoughts, urges, or images. In this case, Lady Macbeth worries that something really bad is going to happen to her or her family, and these thoughts overwhelm her mind throughout the day. She believes if she does not perform her compulsions these bad things will occur. Compulsions are repetitive behaviors or mental acts individuals engage in to prevent or reduce anxiety and distress. Compulsions are also attempts to suppress, ignore, or neutralize the persistent unwanted thoughts. Lady Macbeth’s compulsions are to spend an excessive amount of time cleaning herself and her things to relieve her contamination obsession. She also engages in a counting obsession that she uses when she hears words that would trigger her to think something bad was going to happen. These would be words that had to do with germs and …show more content…

There are various clinician-administered measures for the assessment of OCD. Clinical interviews and various self-report measures are typically used as well as behavioral avoidance tests or observational tasks in which individuals are exposed to feared stimuli while rating their distress level. It is also important to review the etiological considerations when assessing and diagnosing OCD. Being that OCD involves both genetic and environmental factors. Heredity plays a major role in the etiology of OCD, therefore it would be beneficial to examine if any of Lady Macbeth’s family members have OCD or related disorders. As her therapist, it would be conducive, while working with her to explore if there was or is any trauma in her past or present. Trauma may be associated with increased symptom severity in OCD. Other life events are associated with OCD onset, which include accidents and serious